This invention relates to a process for producing a chocolate or chocolate-like product and to a chocolate or chocolate-like product thereby produced.
Many processes are known for producing chocolate and chocolate-like products. Processes for producing chocolate and chocolate-like products typically involve dispersing finely ground powders in a fat phase. The finely ground powders may include, for example, cocoa solids, sugar and optionally milk solids. The ingredients that are used are dictated by the nature of the product. Plain chocolate contains cocoa solids but generally does not contain non-fat milk solids, whereas milk chocolate does contain non-fat milk solids and milk fat as additional ingredients. White chocolate is prepared without the addition of cocoa mass or cocoa powder. The fat used to produce the chocolate is typically cocoa butter.
In the traditional method for producing chocolate and chocolate-like products, the ingredients are mixed and ground in a refiner or mill to reduce the particle size of the solids. The resulting paste is then conched. Conching is a flavour-developing step which involves the intimate mixing or kneading of the chocolate ingredients and is traditionally carried out at elevated temperatures. During conching, the flavour of the product develops and the desired viscosity is obtained. Typically, the free acid and water content of the chocolate are reduced during conching. Conching is a time-consuming and energy intensive step in the process and typically takes from a few hours to a few days, depending on the product and the equipment used. After conching, the product is typically liquefied and tempered.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,826 B1 and US 2001/0028909 A1 both disclose a method and apparatus for making a shaped confectionery product of Bingham plastic rheology by cold extrusion wherein particles of the confectionery product are fed between counter-rotating form rolls having depressions corresponding to the desired product shape. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,826 B1 and US 2001/0028909 A1, a Bingham plastic material is defined as having a graph of shear stress spotted against shear rate which shows a linear relationship with a positive offset corresponding to the characteristic yield value of the material. Chocolate is stated as being a Bingham plastic material. Both U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,826 B1 and US 2001/0028909 A1 disclose the use of flakes, shavings or granules of previously prepared highly crystalline tempered chocolate to produce shaped products by the use of counter rotating rollers.
There remains a need for processes for making chocolate and chocolate-like products that can reduce the time and steps needed for their production. There is also a need for processes that can be operated more economically. In particular, there is a need for processes that can be used to make low fat chocolate and chocolate-like products.